1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems for preparing beans and other seeds, and in particular to apparatuses, systems and methods for measuring the seed density (weight/volume) hydration profile of seeds during soaking.
2. Description of the Related Art
The bean is a common crop but is underutilized, in part perhaps due to long soaking times required to make beans digestible. Soaking shortens the required cooking time by introducing water evenly into the dry bean seeds before cooking, thereby saving energy, reducing cost, and reducing nutrient degradation. Water distribution between protein and starch fractions also reduces time required to obtain adequate food texture. Further, soaking, under optimal conditions, facilitates the leaching of anti-nutrients that exist in legume seeds, such as tannins, phytic acids, trypsin inhibitors, and oligosaccharides that cause flatulence.
Because water absorption by bean seeds (hereinafter generally “seeds”) is the first step to prepare dishes based on legumes, there is interest in developing apparatuses, systems and methods for measuring the hydration profile of seeds during soaking.
As Xu explains, dry seeds swell during hydration up to more than 250% of their original volume, with volume changes varying depending on the variety of seed. Soaking is an important unit operation during the processing of seeds used for direct consumption. The change in seed volume over time during soaking (volume kinetics) relates to water uptake and the quality of final product, and affects the design of the entire processing operation. Since volume determination is labor-intensive and time consuming, volume kinetics is usually not well monitored throughout seed hydration. Xu, Shan, “Development and application of an automatic system for determining seed volume kinetics during soaking ” Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2010. Xu studied volume kinetics during hydration. There is a need for apparatuses, systems and methods for measuring the full hydration profile of seeds (including volume, weight, and density) during soaking.